Fabric-inspection apparatus



` H. CRUGER FABRIC INSPECTION APPARATUS' Filed Feb. 21, 1925 5sheets-sheet 1 NVENTOR HAMM @wf/4r- Jan. 25, 1927. 1,615,216

H. CRUGER Y '11m HEMI iiI .i i www,

*M- 'Il'Y 1 HN 'im i LH l n? Ul! Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD causan, or NEW Yonx, N. Y.

FABRIC-'INSPECTION APPARATUS.

Application led February 21, 1925. Seria1 No.. 10,735.

The invention relates to improvements in fabric inspection apparatus,and more particularly to an improved device whereby the threads ofapiece of fabric may be counted and inspected through a microscope ormag- 'nifyingy member. In accordance with the invention means areprovided whereby a microscope may be moved both laterall andlongitudinally above the piece of abrio which is suitably supported, sothat the observer can readily count and inspect both the warp and thewoof threads of the fabric. In the preferred form of construction meansare provided for directing light of uniform character upwardly throughthe portion of Vthe fabric which is to be inspected, or for directinglight of a desired and adjustable intensity downwardly upon the fabricfor use with material of such character that the Y illumination of thesame from above is' de'- sired. I v

An object of the invention isthe provision `of a comparativelysimple'and inexpenslve device ofthe character referred to, and

- which shall be dependable and .extremely effective in operation. Otherobjects of the invention consist in the provision of imclearlyunderstood attention proved elements of construction and combinations ofparts, whereby various desirable effects will be obtained, all as willbe more fully described in the following speciication: and the inventionwill be further pointed out inthe appended claims.

'In order that the invention may be more is hereby directed to theappended drawings, forming part of this application and illustrating oneembodiment of the invention.

Referring lto` the drawings: Fig. l is' a erspective view of a fabric linspection device embodying the invention';

' that shown in the Fig. 3, but'witha through Fig. 2 is a transversevertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig; 3 is a longitudinal vertical section the device taken.` online 3--3of Fig. 4; i

lig. 4 is a top plan view of the device;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section similarto different adjustment of theparts;

Figs.V 6, 7 and 8 are perspectively views respectively of auxiliarydevices; and

f Fig. 9 is a detailed plan view of the glass in the microscope carryingcross lines.

Referring to the drawings, the device as vshown comprises a light-tightbox, l, the

closure member 2. This top' closure member has an opening ofconsiderable relative size therein which is closed by a plate ofglass,l3, which is preferably ground glass. This pane of glass, 3, maybe held in position in any suitable way as by means of the channel, 4,extending aboutthe opening-in the top plate, 2, as shown inzFig. 2.l Thetop plate 2 may, if desired, be positioned at a slight inclination tothe horizontal with its rear end somewhat higher thanA its forward endlto facilitate inspection of fabric thereon.

The reanwall, 5, of the box, 1 is provided, in the preferred form ofconstruction, with one or several openings, 6, therethrough,

through which electricl light bulbs, 7, are extended. A flangedextension, 8, of box-like form is secured to the rear surface of therear wall, l5, ofbox 1, this serving to hold the sockets, 9, of theelectric light bulbs, 7. Two-such bulbs are illustrated in the drawings,it beingof course understood that one or more bulbs may be used butthatit is ofl course important to secure as uniform illumination of thefabricl as possible. The usual electric light wires extend .from thesockets, 9, these connections not being illustrated. y These connectionsmay extend to a suitable switch, 10, mounted on the side of box, 1, atwhich the current for the lamp may.

be turned on or off. It' will of course be understood that the electricconnection continues from the switch, 10, andmay v,ter-`v reflectinghood is thereby provided. The

side walls, 1-1 of the box, 1, are extended upwardly at the rear, as isindicated at 12,

upper surfaces of which are formed by the rear wall, 5, of the box asdeto cover the ends ofthe hood the rear and curved member 11. 'The frontof the hood thus formed may be covered by a pane of ground glass, or thelike, 13, which is preferably removably mounted in suitable verticalguide-ways at the forward edges of the hood, these guide-ways beingprovided, for

lill

tid

till

example, by the flanges 14, 14', at the forward edges of the hood. Whenthe ground glass, 13, is in position it will rest upon the rear endportion of the top plate, 2, of the box, 1. The top plate, 2, of the boxpreferably takes the fornr of aA flanged cover, the flanges of which areadapted to press firmly against the upper portions of the side walls andthe front wall of the box, with the rear edge of the cover extendin ashort distance within the side and front anges of the hood construction.This cover plate may be wholly or partly removable by sliding the sameforwardly if'it is desired to obtain access to the lamps, 7, as for thepurpose of replacing the same.

A shield member, 15, is preferably hingedly mounted, as is indicated at16, to the front upper edge of the gtationary hood members 11, 12. rlhisshield, 15, comprises a transversely extending portion, 15. and endportions 152 which may each be in the form of a sector of a circle. Thisshield may be swung into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 in whichthe front portion 15 thereof extends downwardly in front of the groundglass, 13, to entirely prevent the light from the lamps passing outthrough glass, 13, above plate 2. Ur, if it is'desired to examine thefabric on plate 2 by lightabove the same. the shield, 15, may be swungupwardly into the position shown in Figjli in which the portion 15 ofthe shield extends forwardly. from the opening in which ground glass,13, is positioned, in which case the light from the lamp will bereflected downwardly and forwardly from lthe curved surface, 11,`at therear of the box and from the inner surface of shield portions 152 and15', so that this light will be directed downwardly upon the fabric onplate 2. rlhe light thus directed above the fabric may be adjusted inintensity by closing or opening the shutter 15 to a greater or lesscxtent. Thus the shutter may be adjusted so that the forward portion 15thereof will extend downwardly and forwardly at a sharp angle to leaveonly a comparatively small opening betweexrthe lower edge ofthe portion15 of the shutter and the top surface plate 2 of the bor. `Shield 15will preferably. be held impositively in any adjusted position as byfriction of the side wings 152 of the shield against the side surfaces12 of the fixed hood over which they fit rather closely.

'llhe inside of the box is preferably made light-reflecting as by givingthe same a coat of white paint. rllhe upper surface of the bottom andthe inner surfaces of the side walls 1i, and the front surfaces of therear wall, 5. and hoed 11, and the inner surfaces of shield members 15and 152 may be made light-redecting. lhe inner surfaces of the 'rearwall 5, 11 preferably joins side walls 1 .17. therethrough forventilation.

"When the fabric is to be examined entirely by light from above, theground glass, 3, in top plate 2. may be entirely covered by a removableplate, 18, Fig. 7, which may be formed of suitably shaped sheet metaland which may be slipped into position upon the top plate 2 to entirelycover ground glass 3 and thereby prevent light from beneath reaching thefabric, which may be positioned upon this plate 18.

When it is desired to examine fabric entirely by light from beneath thesame, the shield, 15, may be closed, as is indicated in Figs. 1 and 3,to entirely cover the vertical ground glass 13. The piece of fabric tobe examined will now be positioned upon the ground glass, 3` in topplate 2 and suitably held in flat position so that uniform light i willshine upwardly through the fabric.

llt is usually desirable to examine only a comparatively small portionof fabric and to have the light from underneath pass only through thissmall section of cloth. Accordingly one cr more slides or plates such asthat indicated at 19 in Figs. l and 6 are provided, plate 19 being shownas formed of suitable opaque materiWV such as sheet metal with arectangular opening or window, 20, formed through the rear portion ofthe same. Any number of slides or plates such as that shown at 1t may beprovided, each having an aperture similar to that shown at 20 in Fig.6., these apertures.y however., being of different sizes in thedifferent plates, so that sections of fr ric of (lider-ent size may beexamined. llt is not deemed necessary to illustrate more. than one 'suchslide.

lll/"hen a piece of fabric is to be examined by light passinyg; upwardlythrough the same, the fabric is placed upon the ground glass. 3. and asuitable slide, such as'll, positioned above the same, care being takento have the fabric lying flat and unwrinlrlcd. Slide 19 is rectangularand the aperture, 20, therethrough is also rectangular with its edgesparallel to the edges of the slide. lt is therefore a simple mattertoadjust the fahric and the slide so that the edges of aperture 2O willbe approximately parallel to the longitudinal and transverse threadsofthe llG lle?

fabric. This adjustment may be facilitated,

against the rear edge of this opening, or

Aby aligning the lfront' edges, 21, of the slide against the forwardedge of the opening in which glass 3 is'positioned. The slide may bereadily movedby means of the forwardly extending projection, 22,which'may be held between the thumb and finger of the operator.

When the slide and fabric are thus properly positioned the fabric may besubjected to pressure to insure the same lying flat against glass,V 3'.This may be accomplished, for example, by means of the forwardlydirected spring fingers 23, 23. Each ,spring finger, 23, is preferablycarried by 40, which is rotatably mounted in carriage,

an upwardly extending member, 24, which is slidably mounted on atransversely extending rail or rod, 25, the ends of which are supportedin.4 blocks 26,' 26, mounted upon top plate 2. Fingers 23 may thus beslid along rod, 25, intofdesired positions where they will bear uponslide, 19, and exert pressure upon the fabric beneath the same,whereu onthe spring lingers are secured in position and vput under pressure bymeans, for example, of screws, 27, which screw into` suitable threadedopenings in blocks, 24, and are adapted to bear againstl rod, 25. Thesescrews are preferably provided with knurled heads, 28, by which they mayreadily be turned.

A microscope 0r suitable magnifying member indicated at 29 1s carried bya vertical arm, 30, extending upwardly from a carriage, 31, which isslidably mounted on a transverse rod, 32. Rod 32 is carried by shortlongitudinally extending members 33, 33, the rear ends of which carrylaterally extending arms 34, 34, which are slidably mounted onlongitudinally extending sidev rods-35, 35. These rods are secured attheir rear ends to the blocks, 26, previously mentioned and at theirforward ends to similar blocks, 36, 36, mounted upo`n top plate 2. Theforward ends-.of the longitudinally extending arms 33 are secured to atransverse bar, 37 the endsv of which are slidably mounted on rods, 35,the frame comprising.

transverse members, 32, 34 and 37 together with the' longitudinalmembers, 33, thus being slidably mounted onrods, 35, for longitudinalmovement over plate 2.-

The rear surface oftransverse bar, 37,-

is provided with a rack, 38, with which lco-l acts a pinion, 39, on ashort vertical stud,

31. This vertical stud carries a knurled head, 41, at its-upper end bywhich it can be turned so that carriage, 3.1, and the microscope carriedthereby may be moved step vby step in transverse direction, across topplate 2 of the box. lhe frame or carriage comprising memfor moving thesame step by step. As

shown in the drawings a pinion, 42, may be carried by a shortvertical'stud, 43, vwhich is rotatably mounted in one of the framemembers, 33, of the longitudinally n'movable frame, this stud carrying aknurled head.`

44, at its upper end by which it can beturned. Pinion 42 coacts with astationary rack, 45, which is secured to top plate 2 and may extendfromfront to rear alongside one of the blocks, 26, and the correspondingfront block, 36.

By the means described, the microscope may be readily positioned overwindow, 20, in plate 19, beneath which the fabric to be examined is heldin flatposition. The microscope is preferably provided with accuratelypositioned cross lines,.46, which may be formed upon a suitable glassmounted in the microscope asis indicated in Fig. 9. These lines areaccurately positioned at right angles to each other and may aligned withwarp or woof threads of the fabric to actas an .indicator or pointer tofacilitate counting the threads. The window, 20, of plate 19, ispreferably provided with suitable scales alongside one longitudinal andone lateral edge thereof, as is indicated at 47, in Fig. 6, these scalespreferablyy being f three lin' number to indicate lengths in fractionsof an inch', in centimeters, and in the French measure oflignes.

bev

It is accordingly a simple matter to move the microscope step by stepover thefabric which is illuminated through window, 20, and to therebycount both the longitudinal and the lateral threads.

It may be noted that, for ease in adjusting the fabric in position ontheapparatus,

the whole carriage bearing the microscope,- 'compr1s1ng frame-members 3733, 34 and 32 may be swung upwardly about rod 35 at the left, (Fig. 1),as axis, this being permitted by the fact that parts 37 and 34 aremerely notched for sliding engagement with rod 35 at the right, Fig. 1.

If a different kind of material is used, which should preferably beilluminated from `-above instead of by light, passing through thevfabric, the slide, 18, having no a erture therein is laced above-theground g ass, 3, and the abrio laid thereon. In this case the fabric maybe held flat by passing an angular removable member thereon such as `theL-shaped member, 48, illustrated in Fig. 8 which member should havesufficient weight to hold the fabric reasonably flat. The edges of thismember may be provided with scales, such as scales of the three unitsofmeasurement referred lid lid

to above, such scales being indicated at 49.

It will be noted that the provision of means for adjusting the positionof the microscope laterally and longitudinally is much more effectivefor the desired purpose than would be the provision of means for movingthe fabric in a similar manner beneath a microscope having a xedposition. This is for the reason, among others, that the fabric mustremain substantially flat in order to obtain a uniform-magnificationthereofand it would be extremely difiicult to move the fabric step bystep beneath the microscope without causing thelf'fs'ame to buckle moreor` less. Furthermore, the

movement of the microscope while holding Jthe fabric stationary permitsthe use of the stationary screen such as slide member, 19, above thefabric this screen permitting the uniform illumination of'a desired.small portion of the fabric only, through the opening of desired size,such as window 20 in screen 19. lf the fabric were to be moved to obtainthe relative adjustment between the microscope and the fabric, it wouldprobably be necessary to move this slide or screen, 19, therewith, andin this case, it would not be possible to obtain uniform, comparativelyintense illumination through the fabric, as is done in the present casewhere illumination comes entirelythrough the o ening, 20, which remainsfixed in position uring the inspection.

lt will also be noted that the invention i provides means forilluminating the fabric from above, if desired, and varying the in:tensity of such illumination as desired by adjusting the angularposition of the shield or shutter, 15. lso, that constant illuminationfrom below is provided when desired, which illumination may be varied ininten7 sity by use of screens or plates such as lil, having openings ofdifferent site through which the light will pass, and that the inventionalso permits the total elimination of the light from underneath by theuse of a solid or entirely opaque plate such as lil; and that also, theentire fabric may be illuminated from beneath, if desired, by holdingthe .i fabric upon the ground glass, 3, without the use of any plate orscreen above it.

lt should be understood that the invention is not limited strictly tothe exact details of construction which have been particularlydescribed, but that the invention includes all suitable equivalentsthereof, the scope of the invention being indicatedl by the appendedclaims.

ll claim:

l. lin fabric inspection apparatus, 'the combination of a box having atransparent fabric-supporting plate, a source of light within said box,said box having an upward extension with an opening through which lightfrom said source may pass down upon said surface, and said box andupward ex tension having light reflecting inner surfaces adapted tocause the illumination of the upper and lower surfaces of saidplate, anadjustable shutter for said openin in said upward extension, and meansenab ing the illumination from beneath saidlate of selected areas onlyof fabric upon said plate.-

2. In fabric inspection apparatus, the combination of a box having atransparent fabric-support of substantial extent through the whole ofwhich light may pass, a source of light Within said box, means forreflectin light from said source uniformly u on sai support from belowto uniformly il uminate a considerable extent of a fabric positioned onsaid support, slidable opaque means for holding a fabric upon saidsupport, having a plurality of inspection o enin therein enabling thelight to shine t roug onl selected areas of said fabric, a magniingmember, means for movably supporting the same above said opaque means,means for adjusting the lens of said member vertically for focusing todiid'erent sizes of inspection openings, and means for adjustin theposition of said magnifying member oth longi tudinally and laterally ofa selected inspection opening. u

3. .lin fa ric inspection apparatus, the combination of a lighttight boahaving an upper surface with an opening therein, a lig it-source, meansfor directing the light therefrom through said o ening, a magnifyingmember, a carriage mor the same above i, i

said upper surface, means for slidingly supv porting said carriage,arranged to permit the pivotal swinging of said carriage to one side ofsaid opening, at any point in its travel, to permit adjustment of thefabric, u

and manuallycontrolled step by step means for moving carriage in onedirection, and for moving said magnifying member, relative to saidcarriage, in a didierent direc'- tion, to adjust the osition of said ingmember step by step above fabric eutended over said opening, manuallycontrolled means holding said carriage and magnifying member in adjustedpositions.

d. lin fabric inspection apparatus, the y 'ria combination of a fabricsupport. sin.A le

stationary source of light, an enclosure there for, and means comprisingreideoting means for directing 'the light therefrom uniformly eitherthrough the fabric, from below, or npjj, ,1;

on the fabric from above, at will.

5. lin fabric inspection apparatus, the combination of a bon having atransparent top plate, a source of light within said box,

means for reflecting light from said source uniformly upon said platefrom below, to illuminate a considerable extent of a fabric positionedon said plate, means for holding fabric upon said plate, comprising aseries of opaque plates liaviiigdidcreiitly einen openings therethrough,any one of which, as desired, may be positioned on the fabric, amagnifying member, and means for movably mounting the same above saidtransparent and opaque plates. l,

6. In fabric inspection apparatus, the combinationof a box having atransparent fabric-supporting plate, asource of light within said box,said box having an upward extension with an opening through which lightfrom said source may pass down upon said surface, and said box andupward ex-v tension having light reflecting inner surfaces adapted tocausethe illumination of the upper and lower surfaces of said plate,means for holding fabric upon said plate, comprising an opaque platewith an inspecx tion opening therein, to be positioned upon v ingtherefrom an extent of said fabrigmany` said fabric when the latter isto be examined by light from below, and an opaqueplate to be positionedupon said transparent plate, and means for holding the'fabric upon saidlast named opaque plate, when the fabric is to be examined by light fromabove.

7 In fabric inspection apparatus, the combination of a fabric support,means for holding a piece of fabric flat and immovable thereon,permitting the inspection of a desired limited area thereof, anartificial source of light and means for uniformly illuminatltim'esgreater than and including said'lim- -lted area, a magnifylng member,and means also from above, to illuminate a considerable extent of afabric'positioned on said plate, means for varying or shutting olf thedownwardly-reflected light, and means for holding fabric on said plate.

9. In fabric inspection apparatus, the combination of a transparentfabric support, a removable plate, having an inspection opening therein,fonholding a piece of fabric flat and immovable thereon,r,a lightsource, means for reflecting light therefrom either upon the bottom orthe top side ofthe fabric, as desired, a magnifying member having aglass with cross lines thereon, mounted above said plate, and means foradjusting the position thereof, step by step, in two directions, toenable said cross lines to be aligned successively with threads of thefabric, in counting the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed 'my ,name to this specification.

HAROLD CRUGER.

